Week 6 of the Redfearn CSA includes (beginning in the top left of the pictured large share): New Potatoes, Eggplant, Sweet Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Candy Onions, Garlic bulbs, and CHOICE of Cabbage OR Kale OR Swiss Chard. On the choice: Small shares choose 1, Large shares choose 2, any combination cabbage/ kale/ swiss chard.
Cabbage: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Cabbage can be eaten raw, as slaw, or cooked in numerous ways. Our family enjoys this Kielbasa and Cabbage Recipe and often serve it with boiled new potatoes with butter. Cabbage can also be roasted in the oven, either chopped or in wedges, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted at 425 till tender. Here’s a recipe for Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Bacon.
New Potatoes: store in a cool, ventilated place, but not in the refrigerator. Store apart from onions (not in the same container). New potatoes are most commonly boiled or roasted, and are normally cooked with their skin on. Basic cooking instructions (boil method): Wash potatoes and cut into uniform sized pieces (or leave smaller potatoes whole). Cover with cold water by 2 inches, add plenty of salt, bring to a boil and cook until just tender. Drain potatoes and top with melted butter and chopped herbs (such as parsley or rosemary). In addition to the boil method, new potatoes can be roasted, like this recipe for Roasted Potatoes. Our family enjoyed this recipe for green beans and new potatoes (we cooked a half recipe and used bacon instead of salt pork, and less salt and butter): Paula Deen’s Green Beans and New Potatoes.
Sweet peppers: Store in plastic bag, in refrigerator. Meal idea: sauté sliced candy onions and sweet pepper for a tasty Philly Cheese Sandwich . Stuffed peppers are also a favorite main dish at our house; zucchini/ yellow squash can also be stuffed using the same recipe.
Tomatoes: Store at cool room temperature, in a single layer if possible, NOT in a plastic bag. Let tomatoes ripen at room temperature. Here is a website that gives many different Tomato Salad Ideas. This Roasted Tomato Tart recipe is a favorite of mine. Another favorite is baking thick slices with a cheese topping like these Parmesan Tomatoes. Here are additional tomato recipes: Fresh Tomato Pie, Caprese salad, Tomato Basil Chicken
Eggplant: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator, but use quickly, because eggplant doesn’t store well. The best tip I have for tasty eggplant is to salt and drain the prepared (sliced, cubed, etc) eggplant for at least 20-30 minutes before cooking (this takes away any bitterness and also, helps the eggplant to absorb less oil during cooking). Here’s a page with detailed instructions about eggplant preparation and recipes: Fine Cooking: How to cook Eggplant. Eggplant can be sauteed, grilled or roasted. It is great combined with zucchini and other vegetables and grilled for a summer side dish. For eggplant recipes from Italy to China, check out these: Global Eggplant Recipes.
Onions: store at cool room temperature.
Garlic: store at cool room temperature.
CHOICE of Cabbage, Kale or Swiss Chard (small shares choose 1, large shares choose 2):
Cabbage: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. Cabbage can be eaten raw, as slaw, or cooked in numerous ways. Our family enjoys this Kielbasa and Cabbage Recipe and often serve it with boiled new potatoes with butter. Cabbage can also be roasted in the oven, either chopped or in wedges, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted at 425 till tender. Here’s a recipe for Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Bacon.
Kale: store in plastic bag in refrigerator. Try this Zuppa Tuscana soup (I usually add a can of tomatoes to this soup and sometimes kidney beans). Or, try this method of fixing kale:
Kale, Sausage and Beans
8 to 16 oz. smoked sausage (or omit and increase beans, for a vegetarian version), sliced
1 Onion, chopped
3 (or more) cloves garlic, finally chopped
1 can (or about 2 cups, peeled) tomatoes, with liquid
Kale, 7- 10 leaves, removed from stem and chopped (with Baby kale, add a couple handfuls of kale leaves, chopped)
1 can drained (or about 2 Cups, cooked) white beans, like great northern or cannellini beans
Brown the sausage in a skillet and then remove sausage to a paper towel lined plate and drain off excess oil. Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat, till soft and golden, 5- 10 minutes. Add chopped garlic and kale, stir to begin to wilt. Then add tomatoes and cover: lower heat and cook until kale is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and sausage and season to taste (red pepper flakes are a good addition). Can be topped with shredded parmesan cheese.
Swiss Chard: Store in plastic bag in the refrigerator. The swiss chard leaves have a very mild flavor similar to spinach. Both the stem and the leaves can be eaten and I usually use both together; chop the stems like you would celery and begin cooking the stems before adding the greens. This is a basic swiss chard recipe: Swiss Chard with Balsamic Vinegar. Our family really likes this Swiss Chard, Sausage, White bean casserole ( I use the stems and leaves of the chard). This Swiss Chard and Ricotta Crostata is a wonderful recipe, and one of my all-time favorites. Swiss chard leaves can be used just like spinach in my Crustless Spinach Quiche recipe. Swiss chard can also be used in curry, as in these: Saag Paneer (I have used a bunch of swiss chard in place of spinach in this recipe; I washed, then coarsely chopped the chard stems and leaves, and then processed the swiss chard while raw in a food processor) and Curried Lentils and Sweet Potatoes.
If you would like more recipe ideas, I have a pinterest board devoted to CSA vegetable recipes: http://www.pinterest.com/sheriredfearn/csa-veggies-recipes/